Deserialize JSON to ArrayList<POJO> using Jackson

You can deserialize directly to a list by using the TypeReference wrapper. An example method:

public static <T> T fromJSON(final TypeReference<T> type,
      final String jsonPacket) {
   T data = null;

   try {
      data = new ObjectMapper().readValue(jsonPacket, type);
   } catch (Exception e) {
      // Handle the problem
   }
   return data;
}

And is used thus:

final String json = "";
Set<POJO> properties = fromJSON(new TypeReference<Set<POJO>>() {}, json);

TypeReference Javadoc

Another way is to use an array as a type, e.g.:

ObjectMapper objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();
MyPojo[] pojos = objectMapper.readValue(json, MyPojo[].class);

This way you avoid all the hassle with the Type object, and if you really need a list you can always convert the array to a list by:

List<MyPojo> pojoList = Arrays.asList(pojos);

IMHO this is much more readable.

And to make it be an actual list (that can be modified, see limitations of Arrays.asList()) then just do the following:

List<MyPojo> mcList = new ArrayList<>(Arrays.asList(pojos));

This variant looks more simple and elegant.

CollectionType typeReference =
    TypeFactory.defaultInstance().constructCollectionType(List.class, Dto.class);
List<Dto> resultDto = objectMapper.readValue(content, typeReference);

I am also having the same problem. I have a json which is to be converted to ArrayList.

Account looks like this.

Account{
  Person p ;
  Related r ;

}

Person{
    String Name ;
    Address a ;
}

All of the above classes have been annotated properly. I have tried TypeReference>() {} but is not working.

It gives me Arraylist but ArrayList has a linkedHashMap which contains some more linked hashmaps containing final values.

My code is as Follows:

public T unmarshal(String responseXML,String c)
{
    ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();

    AnnotationIntrospector introspector = new JacksonAnnotationIntrospector();

    mapper.getDeserializationConfig().withAnnotationIntrospector(introspector);

    mapper.getSerializationConfig().withAnnotationIntrospector(introspector);
    try
    {
      this.targetclass = (T) mapper.readValue(responseXML,  new TypeReference<ArrayList<T>>() {});
    }
    catch (JsonParseException e)
    {
      e.printStackTrace();
    }
    catch (JsonMappingException e) {
      e.printStackTrace();
    } catch (IOException e) {
      e.printStackTrace();
    }

    return this.targetclass;
}

I finally solved the problem. I am able to convert the List in Json String directly to ArrayList as follows:

JsonMarshallerUnmarshaller<T>{

     T targetClass ;

     public ArrayList<T> unmarshal(String jsonString)
     {
        ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();

        AnnotationIntrospector introspector = new JacksonAnnotationIntrospector();

        mapper.getDeserializationConfig().withAnnotationIntrospector(introspector);

        mapper.getSerializationConfig().withAnnotationIntrospector(introspector);
        JavaType type = mapper.getTypeFactory().
                    constructCollectionType(ArrayList.class, targetclass.getClass()) ;
        try
        {
        Class c1 = this.targetclass.getClass() ;
        Class c2 = this.targetclass1.getClass() ;
            ArrayList<T> temp = (ArrayList<T>) mapper.readValue(jsonString,  type);
        return temp ;
        }
       catch (JsonParseException e)
       {
        e.printStackTrace();
       }
       catch (JsonMappingException e) {
           e.printStackTrace();
       } catch (IOException e) {
          e.printStackTrace();
       }

     return null ;
    }  

}